Ministerial Office

Parliamentary Office

About the Minister

The Hon Don Harwin is a minister in the NSW Liberals and Nationals State Government and leader of the Government in the Legislative Council. He became the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and other portfolios (Special Minister of State, Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Arts) on the 2 April 2019 within the Berejiklian government.

Don Harwin is Sydney born and bred, and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1985 with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours). Before he started his life in Parliament, Don Harwin established his own public affairs and government relations consultancy business.

The Hon Don Harwin political career includes serving as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since March 27, 1999 and the 20th president of the Council between May 2011 and January 2017, and as the leader of the Government in the Legislative Council since January 2017. In the 1999 state election, Don Harwin was elected to the NSW Legislative Council and then re-elected in 2007 and in 2015 for eight-year terms.

In his maiden speech, he said he stood for “believe in empowering individuals through strategies designed to promote equality of opportunity. Encouraging individuals to achieve their potential makes them more productive citizens who contribute to a more prosperous society. I am strongly committed to a liberal concept of social justice that goes beyond the classical liberal belief that only economic freedom can produce just outcomes. After all, freedom of the individual is meaningless if that individual does not have the basic human dignity of food, clothing and shelter, or any of life’s basic opportunities. At the same time, there can be no social justice without a strong economy based on vigorous free enterprise.”

Minister Harwin is currently the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Special Minister of State, Minister for the Public Service and Employee Relations, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister for the Arts.